


The Life Ahead

by chatterboxrose



Category: Glee, Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-26
Updated: 2014-04-26
Packaged: 2018-01-20 22:30:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,108
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1528022
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chatterboxrose/pseuds/chatterboxrose
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's apparently the end of the world and Blaine only has his brother for company - until they find a group of survivors at a prison that take them in. Among them is Kurt Hummel who is strong and a bit closed off.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Life Ahead

**Author's Note:**

> I recently marathoned TWD and couldn't help but think of Klaine in the world. So here it is. If you don't know much about the show, basically there is a zombie outbreak and people are left to fend for themselves. 
> 
> Thank you to daltoneering for betaing. :)

It starts with a few weird news stories. People being sick really sick. Some strange new virus. Blaine’s mom insists that Cooper come home for a while, because it seems to be worse in LA. Cooper caves, because he’s never been able to say no to their mom.

 

Things explode within a few days.

 

Whatever this is – it gets more intense and grows. There are news reports on all day long telling them about a new sickness. Warning against the danger. Saying that people die but then don’t die. It’s right out of a science fiction movie and for a while, Cooper keeps going on about it as if it is.

 

They stock up on food. Clear out as much of the increasingly empty grocery store nearby as they can. Then they fortify the house just before shit really does hit the fan.

 

Before the television and radio signals go out, they say there are refugee camps being set up in Columbus. That people should travel there if they want to be safer. They all think about going until it’s too late.

 

The first of them on their street. They are their neighbors. Blaine’s dad goes out to see if they need help.

 

They attack him.

 

They don’t just attack: they tear him apart.  _Eat_  him. Before, Blaine thought the reports of what looked like cannibalism were crazy. Now it is painfully obvious how wrong that assumption had been.

 

Blaine and Cooper have to stop their mother from running outside to help. They lock the doors as their dad told them to before and go down to the basement.

 

The days that follow are tense. They hear things from outside.  They are glad for the thick, concrete walls underground. They are just as glad they stocked up on food.

 

“We’ll just wait it out,” says Blaine, trying to stay optimistic. “They’ll send in the national guard or – something. They can fix this.”

 

They have their dad’s gun, with some extra ammo, sitting in the basement with them. Just in case, their dad had said.

 

Weeks go by. Electricity stops working after the first. They find some lanterns and candles in a box and use those. They don’t really know what they’re waiting for anymore. Once a day they’ll look out the windows and see a few of those people who were infected outside. Just wandering aimlessly. Some are missing limbs, but still keep going.

 

“It’s zombies,” says Cooper quietly at night when their mom is asleep. “They haven’t said the word, but that’s what they are. It’s like right out of a movie.”

 

“I don’t like it,” says Blaine. “It’s too weird.”

 

“So what do we call them?” asks Cooper.

 

“I don’t know. They just give me the creeps.”

 

“We’ll call them Creeps then,” says Cooper. He looks over to their mom, who has gotten so  _thin_  lately. So sick. “I’m worried,” he says, in a brief moment of seriousness. Those brief moments have gotten so much more common lately. Blaine had always thought of Cooper as an airhead – silly and unrealistic – but since this all happened, he’s sobered up. Stepped up after their dad died.

 

“Me too,” says Blaine.

 

“We can’t stay here forever,” says Cooper. “We probably only have enough food for another few weeks at this rate.”

 

“Well what can we do?”

 

“Stop waiting,” says Cooper. “We should pack up and travel to Columbus. That’s where they said to go before communication went down. Maybe they have better resources there.”

 

Blaine looks over to their mom. He’s not sure if she can do that. But they do need to do something.

 

“But what about the Creeps?” asks Blaine. “They – they killed dad. They’re dangerous.”

 

“We have a gun,” says Cooper. “Dad taught you how to use it, right?”

 

“Yeah,” says Blaine.

 

“And look – we have some stuff down here,” says Cooper, motioning to an axe and other heavy tools that could double as weapons. “If this is like any other zombie movie, we can do something to hurt them. Bring them down.”

 

They bring it up to their mom the next day. She thinks it’s a good idea, too, so they start packing up hold hiking backpacks that their dad got them years ago and they never used. They pack them with a few clothes and food that they can easily transport. Then they start arming themselves with some makeshift weapons.

 

Cooper grabs an axe. Their mom takes a shovel. “It’s all about defense,” says Cooper with a nod. “Blainey, you handle the gun. And this.” He gets a smaller axe that he puts on his belt. “You were always better when dad took us to the shooting range.”

 

They leave a few days later, when it looks quiet on the street and none of the Creeps are around. They get in their dad’s car, a sturdy SUV. They make it a few miles out of town when they have to stop short on the backroad they had decided to take.

 

In front of them are three Creeps. Eating…something.

 

When their car stops, they look up. Then get up from the road and start toward them.

 

“What do we do?” asks Blaine. Cooper is the one driving and looks nervous.

 

“We – we should see what hurts them,” says Cooper. “There are only three. Come on, Blaine. Mom, stay in the car.”

 

Cooper and Blaine get out of the car and walk toward them. Blaine doesn’t know what to do. Holds the small axe in his hand. Cooper acts first and takes a swing with his axe.

 

He cuts off an arm of one of the Creeps. It just falls to the ground and the Creep keeps coming.

 

“God,” whispers Blaine. “Coop –“

 

Cooper takes a swing directly to the Creep’s chest. The heart. The axe just sort of gets stuck there.

 

The Creep barely notices it.

 

_How do you kill something that’s already dead?_  thinks Blaine. Because if they are zombies, they really are dead already.

 

Things suddenly get out of hand. The Creeps are on top of Cooper within a few seconds and he falls to the ground.

 

“Cooper!”

 

Cooper struggles to hold back the Creeps, which are snapping their teeth at him viciously.

 

“Shoot them!” he yells.

 

Blaine’s hand shakes. He raises the gun and fires. Misses. He aims again. This time he hits the Creep’s head and that one stops moving, limb on top of Cooper’s body.

 

A moment and the world slows.

 

“The head! Of course!” says Cooper, almost happy. “Zombie movie 101. Silly.”

 

Cooper pushes off the Creep and pulls the axe from her chest. Then he slams it into the next Creep’s head. It goes down, too.

 

Blaine gets his own axe and does the same.

 

They stare down at the three Creeps, who are finally unmoving.

 

“Well, at least we know how to deal with them,” says Cooper, but he’s shaking. His shirt is splattered with blood. God, Blaine realizes he could have missed again and hit his brother instead of the Creep.

 

“Yeah,” says Blaine. “Yeah.” He can’t believe he did that. He’d never been a violent person before. He’d taken up boxing after getting bashed at his Sadie Hawkins dance and thought about punching those attackers in the face plenty of times – but this. This was something different. Not killing someone, because the Creeps definitely don’t seem like people anymore, but it still sits weird in his stomach.

 

Then his mom screams behind them.

 

They turn around. There is one Creep at the open door of their car, forcing its way in where their mom is. They rush forward. Cooper grabs the Creep by the shirt and pulls it out, then takes an axe to its head.

 

“Mom, are you okay?” Blaine asks, reaching for her. She’s crying and shaking.

 

Then Blaine sees the blood.

 

There is what looks like a bite, right on her arm.

 

“We have to go,” says Blaine. “Cooper, come on.”

 

Cooper sees the bite and pales. They get into the car and start driving. They don’t say what they’re thinking. Cooper and his knowledge of zombie movies must know what a bite usually means.

 

They stop a few minutes down at a police station.

 

“It’s perfect,” says Cooper.

 

Everything seems locked up pretty tight, save for one door. They go in slow, Blaine leading their mom in, making sure there are no Creeps. There aren’t, so they go for a first aid kit and bandage their mom’s arm.

 

After that, they wait.

 

It’s not even an hour before the fever starts. Their mom fades in and out for the next day.

 

They still don’t talk about it.

 

They set up in the police station and collect the numerous weapons that had been left there. They have enough to last them a long time by the looks. Including a lot of beef jerky for some reason.

 

They don’t talk about it until their mom dies on the second day.

 

They sit there and stare at her, where she lays on the cot and stops breathing.

 

“Do you think –“ says Blaine.

 

“Yeah,” says Coop, holding his axe tightly. “I do.”

 

They watch her for the next two hours without blinking. That’s when she starts to move again and opens her eyes and they look just like the Creeps’.

 

“Turn away, Squirt,” says Cooper. He takes one of the guns they found and holds it to their mom’s head.

 

Blaine doesn’t look away. Their mom reaches for Cooper, as if to attack him, when he finally fires.

 

They don’t stay in the police station much longer. There are more Creeps than usual around when they get out and they have to run to their car.

 

“Maybe the sound of the gun,” says Blaine. Cooper nods. They have plenty of guns with them now, but Cooper tells Blaine that maybe they shouldn’t shoot them unless completely necessary.

 

They start off to Columbus. It’s harder than any usual trip to the city, with cars piled on the roads. The back roads aren’t that bad, really. They took one look at the main road and knew that was probably impossible.

 

“We’re orphans,” says Blaine, as they drive in relative silence. They have the radio on low, but it’s all static.

 

“Yeah, I guess we are,” says Cooper. “But we have each other, Squirt. We just have to – to protect that.”

 

Blaine feels a lump in his throat. He can’t even remember the last time he and his brother were this close. Being so far apart in age….it never felt like them. Sometimes Blaine felt more like an only child, with Cooper out of the house.

 

“Since when were you so – so mature and serious?” asks Blaine.

 

Cooper smiles over at him. “I’m an actor.”

 

Blaine knows then that Cooper is just as scared as him. So he decides to put up a front, too.

 

They drive by a few Creeps along the way, but in the car, they can get by them pretty easily.

 

Then they encounter the biggest group yet.

 

There has to be at least fifty of them. It’s terrifying. They are in front of the car and they can’t go through.

 

“Okay little brother,” says Cooper, grabbing for their bags. “We’re going to book it for the woods. Keep firing. Aim for heads. And if you don’t see me following –“

 

“Don’t,” says Blaine. “Let’s just go.”

 

Blaine has to admit, they get by pretty well. They aren’t experts in this new life of Creep killing, but they open their doors and fight their way through the horde pretty well. They run and make it to the woods and just keep going. The groans and weird sounds the Creeps make seem to be coming from behind them now.

 

Then they run into more.

 

There are only a handful this deep in the woods. Cooper shoots a couple straight off. Then he gets surprised by one coming from the side.

 

“Cooper!”

 

Blaine raises his gun, but then feels something grab his leg.

 

He screams and shoots at the head of the Creep trying to bite his leg. He stumbles backward and falls over a branch, right on his ass. He drops his gun.

 

There are more Creeps, now. Blaine can’t tell if Cooper is still trying to fight the one that was on him or not. But now Blaine has three coming toward him. One is right on top of him and he tries to hold it back.

 

It’s creepier looking than the rest, with its skin black and peeling. And its bared teeth are snapping at him.

 

Blaine’s gun is several feet away now, out of reach. He gets his axe and hits the Creep’s head. He collapses on top of Blaine and he wants to puke.

 

The other two Creeps are coming toward him now. One falls on top of both him and the Creep on top of him and Blaine can’t even move. He can’t get the axe out of the head of the first Creep.

 

This is it, thinks Blaine. Unless Cooper gets out of his situation, Blaine can’t get out of his.

 

A sword blade suddenly comes through the Creep’s forehead.

 

It dies instantly and drops a load more weight on top of him. Blaine heaves both of the Creeps off of him as quickly as possible. That’s when he sees a guy around his age – human – slicing through the other Creep with his sword. Just one of his swords, really. They’re those things – sais? – that the ninja turtles used.

 

Blaine is breathing heavily, covered in blood and other gross stuff. The guy who saved him looks at him and offers him a hand. “Get up,” he says.

 

Blaine nods and grabs the offered hand. Then he leans down and finds his gun on a pile of leaves.

 

Then he remembers Cooper.

 

“Cooper!”

 

“Squirt!”

 

Cooper runs over, a guy with buff arms, a mohawk and a bow and arrow set running behind him. He shoots one on a Creep coming up.

 

“Are you okay?” asks Cooper, grabbing his shoulders. “Were you bit?”

 

“No, no,” says Blaine. “Are you –“

 

“I’m fine. Mohawk saved me.”

 

“That better be a compliment,” says the guy with the Mohawk.

 

“You saved my life, you bet your ass it is,” says Cooper.

 

“Less talk. Let’s just get moving,” says the guy who saved Blaine. “The Walkers from the road are getting closer.”

 

“Walkers?”

 

“What do you call them?” asks the guy, raising his eyebrow.

 

“Creeps,” answers Blaine.

 

The guy with the swords snorts. “Yeah, I guess that’s pretty accurate too. Let’s just go.”

 

“Wait, Hummel, how can we trust them?” asks Mohawk. “I saved their ass because you couldn’t pass them by and leave them to the Walkers, but really, what are we gaining here?”

 

“Is this really the time for this conversation, Noah,” says the guy – Hummel.

 

“I think it is, princess,” says Noah.

 

“Do they  _look_  threatening?” Hummel gestures to Blaine. “This one has got a bowtie.”

 

Blaine reaches up to his throat. Okay, so maybe the end of the world wasn’t the best place for bowties and fashion. But then, Hummel looked pretty well dressed himself. Functional, but well dressed.

 

“We’re taking them with us,” says Hummel. “My dad can decide to send them off if he wants.” Hummel looks to them, now. “Come on. If you slow us down, though, we will leave you.”

 

Cooper and Blaine look at each other – then nod. “Okay, lead the way.”

 

They encounter a few Creeps – Walkers – in the forest, but they are all dealt with quickly, either with an arrow that is swiftly pulled out of the skull or a sword. Soon, Noah and Hummel lead them to –

 

“Is that a prison?” asks Blaine, stopping for a moment. The building, rather small, is surrounded by high brick walls, which themselves are surrounded by a chain link fence perimeter.

 

“Sure is,” says Noah, looking smug. “I was thinking, when we were on the road – how useful would a place meant to keep people in be for keeping people out? So we took it for ourselves.”

 

“Shut up, Noah,” says Hummel. “Let’s go.”

 

They approach the front. There is another guy that looks like their age waiting, who pulls the gate open for them.

 

“Who are they?” he asks, eyeing them.

 

“Visitors, little bro,” replies Noah. “Actually, didn’t catch your names?”

 

Once the gate is closed and the Creeps around the fence can’t touch them, Blaine relaxes.

 

“I’m Blaine Anderson,” he says.

 

“I’m his brother. Cooper.”

 

“Cooper Anderson? Isn’t that the one guy – silver wolf, right?” asks Noah.

 

“Silver fox, Noah,” says Hummel. “And he’s Anderson Cooper.” He rolls his eyes. “I’m Kurt Hummel. This is Noah Puckerman and Jake Puckerman.”

 

“I’m Puck,” says Noah. Which, okay. Jake just shrugs.

 

“Saved them from some Walkers,” says Kurt. “I’m going to take them up to my dad. We didn’t really get to the run we wanted to do, so we’ll probably go out again later. I’ll send Santana down for the next watch so you can have some food.”

 

“Alright,” says Jake.

 

They go through the next gate, which is at the brick wall, and then start up the hill to the main building. Blaine has to admit – Puck was right – this is the perfect place to hide from the Creeps. They run across a few more people, who are tending to what look like daily chores. They stop and stare and Blaine feels on display. Puck breaks away from them to go talk to a blonde, pretty girl.

 

Finally they get inside and Kurt leads them to what looks like was an old office. A guy is in there, looking at a map on the wall with a lot of red x’s. He’s dressed very casually in jeans and an old flannel shirt and a baseball cap. He looks up when they enter, and a look of what Blaine can only be described as relief passes over his face.

 

“Kurt, you’re okay,” says the man. Then he looks to Blaine and Cooper, confusion overtaking his relief. He straightens up. Suddenly becomes intimidating. “And who are these guys?”

 

“Found them out in the forest, before some Walkers got to them,” says Kurt. “Puck and I saw them on the road. They put up a hell of a fight before they got overwhelmed. There was a pretty big group of them.”

 

Kurt’s dad is nodding slowly. He walks around the desk slowly, eyeing them up and down.

 

“What’s your names?” he asks. They answer and he nods again. “How many people have you guys killed?”

 

Blaine and Cooper look at each other. “No one,” says Blaine. “No one, sir.”

 

“Except –“ Cooper gets quiet. Blaine shakes his head.

 

“That wasn’t mom, Cooper,” he says quietly. He sees both Kurt and his father nod.

 

“So you’ve had to kill the Walkers before?”

 

“We’ve only been out of our basement for a few days,” says Blaine. “Got tired of waiting. Our dad – he was attacked right at the beginning. Before we realized that people…weren’t really people anymore. Then the day we left mom got bit. We hid out until she…”

 

“Turned?” asks Kurt’s dad. “Yeah. I’m sorry, kid. You both didn’t need to see that. No one needs to see that,” he says. He stares at them for a long moment. “Look, I don’t know if I can let you guys in. I want to, believe me, but we brought in a person before, at the beginning of our time here, and it ended badly. I want to trust you, but in this world, it’s hard to tell who you can trust.”

 

“Sir, we can be trusted,” says Blaine. “I know that might not mean much – but we’re good people. I’m just a high school student. I was in my show’s glee club. Cooper is an actor in Hollywood – and now we’re just orphans and we need a place to survive that isn’t out there. We – we know it’s not possible to do it on our own.”

 

Kurt and his dad stare at them for a long moment.

 

“Was.”

 

“Was?”

 

“You were a high school student and in glee club. Your brother was an actor in Hollywood, kid,” says Kurt’s dad. “That’s all in the past.”

 

“If you won’t let us stay,” says Cooper, stepping forward. “At least give us some more supplies to get the rest of the way to Columbus.”

 

“You don’t want to go to Columbus, kid,” says Kurt’s dad. “It’s overrun.”

 

“But they said there would be –“

 

“There was,” says Kurt’s dad. “Then they brought in fire when it was obvious that the Walkers were taking over the streets. When more people started to turn. There ain’t anything but Walkers there now.”

 

A heavy silence settles over the room. Blaine knows they can’t leave here. They have to stay. What else can they do now? If Columbus is overrun by the Creeps, then other places must be the same. Is there any safe place in the world now?

 

“Please, sir,” says Blaine. “Just – please.”

 

“We have guns,” says Cooper, after another silence. “We cleaned out the police station when we first left. We’ll offer you anything for a roof over our head.” He takes a step closer. “Sir, I need to protect my little brother. He’s seventeen and I need to protect him. Please.”

 

A beat after that, Kurt’s dad holds out his hand. “The name is Burt Hummel. Welcome to our camp.”

 

Blaine feels his shoulders slump in relaxation. He smiles over at Cooper and they shake Burt’s hand.

 

After that, Kurt and Burt take them around the prison and show them around.

 

“As you can see,” says Burt as they walk through what looks like a mess hall. A few people are cleaning up the remains of breakfast and looking up from that tasks to see. “Everyone has their jobs here. Everyone does their parts. You guys better be prepared to do that, too, or you won’t be welcomed anymore.”

 

“We’ll do whatever we can, sir,” says Blaine.

 

“Everyone gets their own cell,” says Burt as they approach a cell block. “There are more than enough. I know it’s kinda cold, but people make it personal. Lived in, you know?” They stop at an empty cell. There is a metal bunk and each bed has a mattress. There is a toilet and sink as well.

 

“Wow,” says Cooper, looking around. “I wish I had this experience when I auditioned for a prisoner in Prison Break. I could have really lived the part.”

 

Blaine rolls his eyes. Yeah, like Burt says, it’s not much – but it’s safe.

 

Burt lets them choose where they want to be. They choose two random cells that are empty and right next to each other.

 

“Come on, I can take you to the supply room. We got some sheets and towels if you don’t got them,” says Burt.

 

“Excuse me, sir?” asks Blaine as they walk down a long hallway. Kurt, his son, lingers behind them all, silent. He hasn’t really said anything since the office.

 

“Yeah, son?”

 

“If you don’t mind me asking…who were you before all this?”

 

“I was a mechanic.”

 

“Oh.”

 

“Oh?”

 

“It’s just – you seem like this group’s leader,” says Blaine. “And you’re very – commanding. Not in a bad way, but in a good way. Like, I can see why you are in charge. You give off that vibe – that it’s safe to trust you and your decisions.”

 

“My dad is neglecting to add that he was in Congress,” says Kurt, suddenly walking in step with Blaine.

 

“I only did that for a year before everything happened,” says Burt. “I was a mechanic first, Congressman second.”

 

“To be fair, that does explain a lot,” says Blaine. Then he stops. “Wait – you’re from here right? Ohio?”

 

“Born and raised. Lima, actually,” says Burt. “We traveled quite a while before we settled here.”

 

“Burt Hummel!” says Blaine. “Oh – I wanted to vote for you. But, um, I was too young.”

 

Of course he had heard of Burt Hummel. He was a supporter of Gay rights and arts education. Because of his gay son who was in Glee club…

 

Blaine looks to Kurt. Oh.

 

“Well, thanks for the sentiment then,” says Burt with a genuine smile. “I still can’t believe I won that thing. Glad I did, though. But because of that, the people in the group sort of – well. I didn’t want the job. But I have it now. I’m going to make the best of it.”

 

After they get the rest of the tour and some basic supplies for their rooms, Burt leaves them in their rooms.

 

“I’ll introduce you to people as we go,” says Burt. “But feel free to talk to people. This is your home, too, now.”

 

Blaine grabs the mattress of the top bunk and adds it to the bottom. Then he makes it up and lies down, staring up at the metal bottom of the top bunk.

 

He can’t believe he’s really here. With people. He hadn’t thought – well. After so long in their basement…losing their dad….Blaine wasn’t sure anymore. About anything. This place, though, he feels sure about this.

 

Blaine stands up after a few minutes and peeks his head into Cooper’s cell. He’s sleeping, snoring softly. He leaves his brother and walks out of the cell block, looking around as he goes. People stare at him and he doesn’t really know how to start talking to anyone.

 

The person he ends up talking to is sort of on reflex.

 

He sees, out of the corner of his eye, a blond guy his own age reading a comic book. X-Men, to be specific.

 

“Oh wow, I love that issue!” he says, stopping in front of the guy.

 

The blond looks up, surprised.

 

“Woah, the new guy people have been talking about,” he says. He stands up and, putting the comic under one arm, holds out his fist. “What up. I’m Sam.”

 

Blaine smiles and fists bumps him. “I’m Blaine.”

 

They sit there and talk about comics for a while. Before Sam lost his collection, it was pretty sizable. “I’ve been trying to find some here and there. When we go on runs, food and stuff like that is more important, but I can’t resist looking for comics.”

 

“Totally,” says Blaine. “Hey, I have a few I took from my house in my bag. You can check them out if you want?”

 

“Dude, yeah!” says Sam. “You can borrow some of mine. I have a couple dozen now. I just keep re-reading them.”

 

By the time lunch comes around, Blaine feels even better about the living situation. Sam is nice and introduces him to most of the people in the camp when the sit down to eat. It’s funny, because most everyone is around their age.

 

“We all went to school together,” explains Sam. “We stuck together in the end. A lot of us have our parents here, too. Some of us lost them. I’m lucky and I have my brother and sister here – my parents too. Thank God they came down from Kentucky when things started going south.”

 

Sam’s brother and sister are young and very cute. Just as blond as he is and smile at Blaine as they eat their lunches.

 

Across from him at the table is Cooper, who had woken up from his nap, and Puck and Jake who he’d already met. He’d also met Quinn, a pretty blonde who he thinks he saw when they first entered the camp. Sam points out a lot of different people and says their names and a bit about them, even if they haven’t been introduced.

 

“Now there, the sweet looking girl? That’s Marley. Next to Burt is his wife, Carole. Next to her is Sue – she’s probably scarier than any Walker – and Coach Beiste. She tells us to call her Sharron now that it’s the end of the world, but it’s too weird. She was our football coach back then. There’s also Santana, Kitty, Unique, Tina and Ryder. We have our friend Artie’s mom here,” says Sam, his face dropping. “He didn’t make it. He was in a wheelchair before it happened. He said he would slow us down and…well.” Sam lets out a breath and tries to perk up. “We also have Santana’s mom and dad – which is awesome because her dad is a doctor. Really helps us out. Tina’s dad is here. Ryder’s uncle and grandmother. There seems like so many when you try to name them all, actually.”

 

“We’re lucky,” says Quinn. Blaine looks to her. Her voice is low and hypnotic, he finds. “So many people lost their families. Now we have each other.” Something about how Quinn says it – Blaine knows she’s lost more than her fair share. Blaine doesn’t recall Sam mentioning if Quinn still has her parents here. He gets that – oh, does he.

 

Blaine spends the meal listening to everyone interact. They ask him and Cooper a bit about their past. When they find out he was in a glee club, Sam and a few of the others get excited. “How crazy is that?” says Sam. “Small world!”

 

Blaine finds himself looking over to the end of the table where Kurt is talking with Burt quietly. He’s seated away from most of the people their age, which is weird, and looks so…serious.  

 

After lunch, Blaine jumps up to help with the cleaning. Cooper goes to help Coach Beiste with another project after she slapped him on the shoulder and said she could use a guy like him for the farming in the front of the prison. He sees Burt nod appreciatively and it makes him excited that he’s already doing his part here. Kurt looks at him for a spare moment, then starts back toward the inside of the prison.

 

“Kurt, wait up!” Blaine sets down the plates in his hand and jogs over. Kurt has paused and turns around, eyebrow raised. “I just – I never got to thank you for saving my life.” Blaine holds out a hand.

 

Kurt just sort of stares at him for a moment before finally shaking his hand briefly. “Don’t make me regret it,” he says. Then he turns.

 

“Don’t mind Kurt,” says Sam in a quiet voice behind him. Blaine goes back and gets the dishes and follows Sam to where there is some water and brushes. “He’s…he’s changed a lot, since this all started. For good reason.”

 

“Oh?” asks Blaine.

 

“He used to be…well, he was never particularly silly or anything. But he had his moments. He had to deal with a lot of crap in high school, but he never really fought back. Then I guess he had to start,” says Sam. “We all did. But at the beginning…” Sam hesitates. “We lost people. It might seem like there are a lot of us, but we still lost people. Kurt lost his step-brother and two of his best friends right at the beginning. It’s been hard for him.”

 

Blaine turns back to Kurt, who is just now disappearing into the door of the prison. He knows people deal with loss differently. In a world like this one, where loss just seems to be so constant, some people must block out everything. Change to be tougher on the outside and the inside.

 

“I get it,” says Blaine. “I mean, I’ve lost people. I can see how it would be easier to just…” Shut down? But then, Blaine didn’t know Kurt before all this. Maybe the change isn’t as extreme as he thinks.

 

Time passes differently in this new world. Blaine knew that by waiting in his basement, but at the prison, it moves faster. Or slower. Blaine can’t be sure. They’ve been at the prison for weeks already, but it feels like months.

 

Blaine gets along with everyone at the prison. They’re all good people. He and Sam are good friends already and he also has struck up a friendship with Tina. Tina, besides her friends, has only one family member here. She told him that she still worries about her ex-boyfriend, Mike.

 

“He was in Chicago and didn’t come down when things got bad,” says Tina. “I don’t know – I hope he’s still alive. Even if he’s not here with us.”

 

On one of the first nights there, there is a small bonfire dinner. Most everyone sits around it, save for a few people who are standing watch. Kurt is there, Blaine notes, though he sits next to his dad and step-mom. It’s sort of quiet and Blaine can’t help but start humming.

 

Next to him Cooper bumps into his shoulder and smiles at him. Then he starts humming too. Then Blaine sings, softly and a little unsure, “Another year you made a promise….”

 

On his other side, Sam starts to sing along. Before long, most of the people around the fire are singing along and harmonizing together. When they are done, they all laugh.

 

“We haven’t sung like that in…” Tina trails off.

 

“A long time,” finishes Quinn.

 

“I hate to say it, but I missed it,” says Santana.

 

Blaine looks over and, it might have just been a trick of the light from the fire, but he’s pretty sure Kurt is smiling.

 

 

000

 

 

“Hey Blaine!”

 

Blaine turns away from the Walker that just fell to the ground after he put the rod through its skull through the fence. They still like to keep the outer fence of the prison clear of Walkers piling up and he’s on that duty this morning with Santana and Kurt. They are mostly silent during the process, which is strange. When he does it with Sam they usually chat.

 

“Hey!”

 

Sam is several dozen feet away and holding a football. “We’re picking up a game later – you want to come after chores?”

 

“Yeah! Be there!”

 

“Santana?”

 

“Fuck that. And I’m not cheerleading for you, Trouty Mouth. I left that behind at the end of the world.”

 

Sam just laughs. “Kurt, come on, just this once?”

 

“Sam.”

 

“We need a kicker like you! Please!”

 

Kurt rolls his eyes. He stabs a Walker through the eye.

 

“Maybe.”

 

“Woohoo!”

 

Kurt does end up playing with them an hour later. And he’s an amazing kicker. Blaine is pretty impressed, to say the least.

 

“Kurt here won us our very first game sophomore year,” says Puck, putting an arm around his shoulders and messing up his hair. Kurt squirms away and pushes at him.

 

“That’s awesome,” says Blaine. “I wanted to play football, but I was a little small. I did fight club instead.”

 

“Dude. Me too!” Puck seems thrilled and they get to talking about fight club until Sam says, “Hey, isn’t that something you’re not suppose to talk about.”

 

“Hey, Brad Pitt is dead or a Walker now so who cares,” says Puck.

 

“Such a shame,” says Kurt quietly. Blaine isn’t even sure if anyone but him hears. He laughs. Kurt makes eye contact with him and that ghost of a smile – which he’s seen a handful of times in the several weeks he’s lived here – shows itself.

 

Later that night, Blaine can’t sleep after he wakes up from a nightmare.

 

All his nightmares are the same thing lately. He figures it’s the same for everyone now: Walkers. Always Walkers. Sometimes killing his dad, other times it’s his mom. Sometimes it’s Sam now, or Tina. Or anyone at the prison.

 

This time it was Kurt.

 

Blaine lays awake for a while before finally pushing himself up and getting shoes on. He walks out into the cool air – it’s been getting a lot colder lately – and takes a deep breath. It feels nice.

 

“What are you doing?”

 

Blaine has his knife out in seconds, though realistically he knows it’s not a Walker because of the voice. But it’s reflex at this point.

 

“God, Kurt, you scared the hell out of me,” says Blaine, lowering his weapon. Kurt is sitting up on the edge of the roof, feet dangling over the edge. He’s wearing a slightly oversized letterman jacket to fight off the cold. It seems a little out of place on his frame.

 

“Hey, a Walker isn’t going to apologize for scaring the hell out of you,” says Kurt.

 

“Good thing you’re a human being and apologize for that sort of thing,” says Blaine pointedly.

 

Kurt just rolls his eyes. He always does that. “Okay. I’m sorry.”

 

“What are you doing out here?” asks Blaine.

 

“I could ask you the same thing.”

 

“Nightmare,” he answers honestly.

 

There’s a long pause and then –

 

“Same here.”

 

Then, a few more moments later…

 

“You can come up here. It’s nice to just sort of sit here and not thing for a while,” says Kurt.

 

Blaine nods and, seeing a crate near the wall, climbs up. Kurt holds out a hand and helps him settle right next to him.

 

It gives a good view. The moon is full, or nearly full, tonight, casting a beautiful glow. The stars are bright and there are barely any Walkers out in front of the prison. Blaine can’t even hear them from here.

 

“So, I don’t think I’ve talked to you at all since I’ve gotten here,” says Blaine. “I think I might have talked to Sue more. Which is very weird, if you think about it.”

 

“I’m sorry,” says Kurt, deadpan. “No one should ever have to deal with Sue.”

 

“She’s okay. She said she wished she still had her Cheerios so she could put me on them – whatever that is.”

 

“Cheerleaders.”

 

“Oh. Well. That makes sense.”

 

They sit there for a while in silence before Blaine gets up the courage to really ask him something.

 

“Kurt? I hope you don’t take this the wrong way but…are you happy?”

 

“What?” asks Kurt, turning to him. With the moonlight shining on him this way, he looks pale and so…beautiful.

 

“I just mean – you never really smile. When you do I feel like some victory has been won, you know?”

 

“It’s not really a world where you can be happy anymore, Blaine.”

 

“I was happy today, playing football,” says Blaine. “And yesterday when Tina, Sam and I sang together for everyone at dinner. The world might be tough, yeah, but there are still things to be happy about.”

 

Kurt is quiet, looking out into the distance.

 

“I don’t want to…to overstep. Sam sort of mentioned that a lot of bad things happened when the world first changed. And I get that, I do,” says Blaine. Kurt tenses, but doesn’t leave him. Or punch him, which Blaine also feared. “I lost my parents. I lost every friend I ever had – I don’t even know if any of them are actually alive. All I had in this world before here was Cooper. So I get it. I get that seeing your family and friends die isn’t good…but – but is it really worth being miserable for the rest of your life?”

 

Kurt is quiet for a long, long time after that. Blaine sits there, barely daring to breathe.

 

“He saved me.”

 

The first words Kurt says surprises him, the night had gotten so quiet. Blaine looks over. Kurt has wrapped the jacket tighter around him now.

 

“He hit this Walker over the head with a baseball bat he had, when everyone was panicking. We were trying to get to the bus. That’s how we all got here at first. A school bus. We were just loading everyone up and all our families too. He got me in and then ran back for Rachel. She was my best friend and his girlfriend.” Kurt takes a deep breath. “My step-brother was probably too good to be in this world how it is now anyway. But he went out trying to save Rachel and Rachel went out and didn’t have to be here without him, so I think things worked out, really.”

 

“I’m sorry,” says Blaine. “You can’t blame yourself, though. He saved you because he was willing to sacrifice himself. That’s – that’s what stepping in to save someone means.”

 

Kurt’s shoulders relax slightly.

 

“That’s why it means a lot to me that you saved me. It means you were willing to do that.”

 

“This was his,” Kurt says quietly, after a few moments have passed. “He was the school quarterback. We still had his bag of stuff in the bus. Carole kept a lot of it, but I wanted this. It’s probably stupid.”

 

“It’s not stupid,” says Blaine. “It’s not.” His throat catches and he almost can’t verbalize the words, but he pushes. “After my mom died, I took her watch off her.” Blaine holds out his hand. The watch isn’t that feminine really, just a few touches. It has a worn leather strap, the face is gold and the arrows have small little diamonds in them. “Dad gave it to her for their anniversary a few years ago. I wanted something that would – that would remind me of her, you know?”

 

“Yeah,” says Kurt. “Yeah.”

 

“I’m sorry I made you talk about this,” says Blaine. “I’m such a downer, I guess.”

 

“You didn’t make me,” says Kurt. “And it felt – I haven’t talked about it since it happened. Not really. Everyone just sort of tried to move on. We had so many things to worry about – finding food and shelter and dealing with Walkers – that the mourning didn’t really happen.”

 

“Well, I’m glad you could talk about it then,” says Blaine. “But why don’t we move on to something lighter?” Blaine gives him a smile. “Okay, I have something that I’ve been meaning to ask for a while, but wasn’t sure who to ask. I do feel like I belong here – I do – but I also feel like I’ve missed out on so much drama that I just don’t know about. Like sometimes I feel like some people aren’t friends with this person or there is some sort of history I don’t know about. Fill me in?”

 

Kurt laughs. “Oh god. You’ve opened a can of worms.”

 

Blaine is surprised to learn about Quinn and Puck being a “thing” a few years ago – and even having a baby. They look like they’ve been flirting with trying things again, if Blaine isn’t mistaken, though. He learns about all the break ups and hook ups that happened in the group – and how they are still going on.

 

Kurt actually laughs, as he recounts the old stories of high school drama. Blaine hasn’t seen this since he’s gotten here – only small smiles and hints.

 

“It’s amazing that even at the end of the world our little group still has all this relationship drama,” says Kurt after he recounts the Jake/Marley/Ryder love triangle. “And here I am, as alone as always.”

 

“What do you mean?” asks Blaine.

 

“It’s not like I had a selection before all this,” says Kurt, kicking his feet against the roof and looking down. “Now I have to find a gay guy to date when most of the world is dead or dead and walking.”

 

After a beat, Blaine says, “Well, I am.”

 

Kurt looks up to him, definitely surprised. “You – you are?”

 

“Yeah,” says Blaine. “You didn’t…know?” Then again, Blaine actually hasn’t had to come out here. Like Kurt said, there hasn’t been a need. (Though he feels like lately Tina has been hitting on him so maybe there is a need there).

 

“I didn’t,” says Kurt. “Oh.”

 

“Oh?”

 

They stare at each other for a long moment.

 

Then they launch at each other at the same time.

 

Kissing Kurt is amazing. He’s only ever kissed one person before and that was a girl back in seventh grade. But the way Kurt’s hands comes up to his waist and pulls him in leaves his stomach fluttering, and he in turn puts his hand on Kurt’s cheek and tilts their heads differently, making Kurt moan against his lips.

 

It doesn’t last that long, being a first kiss, but it’s enough to leave Blaine wanting more. He doesn’t think he ever wants to stop. Which is why, after they break their lips apart, he trails down and kisses Kurt’s cheek.

 

“This isn’t because there aren’t any options,” says Kurt breathlessly, as Blaine kisses his cheek then down to his neck. He hears Kurt gasp at the contact. “I’ve wanted to do this – oh – since we met. But I thought – oh my god – you weren’t gay so I – “

 

“You would be my first choice,” says Blaine, leaning back and forcing himself to stop kissing (it’s rather distracting actually). “Even if we weren’t the only two guys here that were gay.”

 

“Even if Neil Patrick Harris were here?” asks Kurt.

 

“Even if he was here,” says Blaine. “But really, Neil is probably a Walker so I’d much rather kiss you than talk about him.”

 

“Such a shame,” whispers Kurt.

 

Blaine cups Kurt’s face with both hands and brings him in for another kiss.

 

They decide to keep whatever is going on with them secret. It’s just something that becomes sort of unspoken. Blaine gets that Kurt is starting to come out of his shell again.

 

“Things were bad for a while,” says Kurt the next day. “I just…I didn’t really care. Or I started to care too much. I don’t know. That’s why I picked up the sai swords when we got to this hunting store – don’t ask me why they were there of all places – and learned to use them. To protect people and not lose them. And I know I haven’t been the best person, besides that. I don’t know if I want people to…I don’t know.” Kurt looks frustrated.

 

Blaine leans over and kisses his cheek. “It’s okay. You don’t have to explain.” Kurt smiles at him.

 

Then someone walks by with a basket of laundry and they step apart.

 

They often sneak out at night and kiss up on the roof. It’s amazing and, in between kisses, they talk about everything.

 

Before this happened, Kurt wanted to be on Broadway. He loved fashion, too. He still gets this look in his eye like maybe one day he can try to do these things again and Blaine wishes more than anything that maybe he’ll get to. That someone will get a cure and after some time, things can go back to how they were.

 

Whatever they are, it’s more than Blaine could ask for. He’s always wanted something like this. Someone to kiss and care about like he’s starting to care about Kurt. It’s impossible not to. Kurt is strong and fearless, he really is, even though he doesn’t think so. They go out on runs with each other and other people in the group to get food and supplies and he’s always able to take down Walkers if he needs to.

 

He’s simply amazing.

 

000

 

A few weeks later, Ryder’s grandfather gets sick.

 

They have some medicine and Santana’s dad does what he can, but it’s just not good enough. Ryder’s grandfather is rather old and had cancer about five years ago. Dr. Lopez is sure that it’s back again and there isn’t much he can do for it. Instead he helps with the pain and they just wait.

 

Blaine, Cooper and Kurt are in the room with Ryder and his uncle when his grandfather passes. Ryder lays his head against the bed, holding his grandfather’s head and lets out a long sob.

 

“Come on,” says his uncle, patting his shoulder after a good ten minutes. “Let’s go. You don’t want to be here when it happens.”

 

Ryder just nods and stands. He takes one last look at his grandfather on the bed and leaves.

 

Burt has arrived, looking sadly into the cell. Kurt stands and lets out a long sigh. He looks back to his dad, who nods.

 

“Okay,” Kurt says. “I’ll just get it over with.” He pulls out one of his swords and walks toward Ryder’s grandfather.

 

“Woah, what are you doing?” asks Cooper, standing up.

 

Kurt raises an eyebrow. “I’m – I’m making sure he doesn’t turn.”

 

“What do you mean? He wasn’t bit,” says Blaine.

 

A look of realization dawns on Kurt’s face. He looks to his dad.

 

“You don’t know, then?” asks Burt.

 

“Know what?”

 

Burt pushes away from the cell and takes off his hat. He rubs at his head and finally speaks. “It doesn’t matter if you’re bit or not, son. If you die, you turn. We’re all infected, now.”

 

“What – what?” Cooper looks terrified.

 

“We found it out by accident. During a run, a few weeks after getting here, one of our own was shot by looters. Will Schuester. He was a good man. This group’s teacher at the school. He had pulled this guy off Santana and out of the way. He had a gun, though, and shot him in the stomach. We were able to get him here before he bled out, but Dr. Lopez couldn’t do anything. So we all gathered around him when he died.” Burt looks suddenly older. Tired.

 

“It wasn’t too long before he came back. Thirty minutes at most. We have a theory that it varies in time, but can’t be too sure. Everyone was terrified. He wasn’t himself anymore. I had to end it, like you end every Walker. After that we were confused – he wasn’t bit – but we started to think…how did this all get started anyway? If the rule was you had to get bit first, this would have never happened. Someone had to die first and turn, then bit others.”

 

“I…I can’t believe this,” says Blaine, feeling sick. Kurt puts his hand on his shoulder. He squeezes.

 

“So we have to do this before Ryder’s grandfather comes back,” says Burt.

 

“Can…can we wait?” asks Cooper. “I just want to see it for myself.”

 

It takes a moment, but Burt agrees.

 

They sit there for nearly three hours before he turns.

 

It’s sick, to see someone he knew come back to life. Blaine remembers his mom. Cooper puts his arm around his shoulders and hugs him close when Kurt goes over and stabs Ryder’s grandfather through the head and he’s gone. For good.

 

This newfound knowledge is scary. It explains, though, why so many Walkers exist. It’s not just people they bit – it’s people who die from natural causes, too. There has to be so many people just out there, starving, who die and turn and add to the numbers of the undead.

 

To know that potential is inside him is terrifying.

 

“I’m sorry,” says Kurt later that night on the roof.

 

“It’s not your fault,” says Blaine. “We needed to know. And now we do. I can’t imagine finding that out because someone you love comes back after you think they’re dead.”

 

“It…it wasn’t a good night,” says Kurt. “We didn’t know what to do with ourselves, really.”

 

Blaine reaches out and takes Kurt’s hand. Somehow that’s enough to make things better.

 

000

 

“So how long have you and Hummel been banging?”

 

Blaine nearly drops the tire iron he’s been using to stab through the fence to take down Walkers around the perimeter.

 

“E-excuse me?”

 

Puck stabs through the fence with a grunt. The male Walker goes down.

 

“You heard me. You and Kurt. I’m not blind. I knew you were gay like, the third day here. You were ogling at Sam and me when we took our shirts off in the field.”

 

Blaine feels his face heat up. He stabs a female Walker that’s skin is starting to peel off against the fence.

 

“I am. So?”

 

“So, you and Kurt are the only gay dudes here. So good for you.” Puck stabs another two Walkers. “Kurt has been – well actually happy lately. He hasn’t been like this since before the Walkers came. So hey, if you’re the reason that is, it’s good on me.” Puck stabs another, then steps back. He wipes sweat off his forehead. “Finn…Kurt’s step-brother…he was my bro too. Sure, we did wrong to each other, but he was a better guy than me. I wish it had been me somedays. That he was here. But this is the way it is and I’m gonna have Kurt’s back. That’s what Finn would have wanted.”

 

Blaine doesn’t confirm he and Kurt are together, but he does say, “I’ll help you. That way he stays even safer.”

 

Blaine realizes that it’s not just Puck who knows. Sam must, because if Kurt walks over he slaps Blaine’s back and leaves. People gives them looks. He lets Kurt know what Puck told him, or at least, that he knows they are up to something. Kurt blushes and nods.

 

One day, he and Kurt are walking through the halls when Burt comes up and asks to talk to Kurt. He puts a hand on both of their shoulders.

 

Blaine waits a few moments when they both walk around the corner. He shouldn’t but he follows them to Burt’s office.

 

He lingers outside the door and overhears as Burt starts talking.

 

“I’m glad to see you’re happy again, bud,” says Burt. “I guess taking in those brothers was worth it in the end – for more than just ammo.” Even Blaine can hear the suggestion in Burt’s voice.

 

Even Kurt’s dad knows?

 

“Oh god, dad,” says Kurt.

 

“I’m not blind, Kurt,” says Burt. “And I’m not mad, either. We only got each other left, bud. Everyone in this prison. We have to be with each other when we can.”

 

Kurt is quiet for a lot moment. Blaine decides that now is the best time to leave. He goes back to his room and stands in the middle of the floor.

 

Kurt shows up within five minutes or so and Blaine has barely turned around before Kurt is kissing him, arms around his neck and pulling their bodies closer and closer.

 

“Wow,” says Blaine, when they part.

 

“My dad knows.”

 

Blaine leans his forehead against Kurt’s. “I know. I might have…overheard.”

 

Kurt hits his shoulder playfully.

 

“Sorry.”

 

“It’s okay,” says Kurt softly. “I want what we have to be real. Official. I really like you, Blaine. And since almost everyone here knows, we should be honest. If you want.”

 

“Of course I want,” says Blaine.

 

That night they walk to dinner holding hands. They sit close to each other and people notice. They send them knowing smiles. Blaine even thinks he hears Santana whisper, “Finally.”

 

Cooper pats him on the shoulder as they are cleaning up. “Well little brother, looks like it only took the zombie apocalypse to get you a boyfriend.”

 

Near him Kurt covers his mouth with his hand to hide his laugh. Blaine pushes Cooper away.

 

“Oh shut up.”

 

000

 

“So where are we going today?” asks Blaine as he loads up supplies with Kurt into the truck.

 

“About 30 miles up is an old drug store. Dr. Lopez wants to really stock up before the winter comes and we can’t do longer runs.”

 

It’s getting colder now, the days shorter. Blaine is bundled up in a navy jacket he’d found on their last run and a red scarf. Kurt has two jackets on – a regular mauve hoodie with his letterman jacket on over it.

 

“Plus any other supplies we can get,” says Kurt, shutting the back of the truck. “More canned stuff. Blankets. Anything, really.”

 

“Got it,” says Blaine.

 

Puck leads them out on his motorcycle. Coach Beiste drives the truck and Kurt and Blaine sit in the middle and the passenger seat.

 

Blaine has found that, though tough on the outside, Beiste is probably one of the kindest people he’s ever met. She has the physical strength, though, to take out Walkers like a fiend.

 

They get to the drugstore without incident. They see a good amount of Walkers on the way, but drive right by. The drugstore has been untouched, which is good. Puck and Beiste go over to the small grocery store next door. They clear out a few Walkers and starting loading the truck with supplies – it’s a jackpot.

 

Kurt and Blaine start getting the drugs and supplies that Dr. Lopez wanted. It’s a long list and they are able to get everything on it, fortunately.

 

“This is great,” says Blaine, seeing all the new food and even clothing that Beiste and Puck have loaded into the truck. “This will last us all winter – maybe even longer.”

 

“Yeah, it’s fantastic. As soon as Puck and –“

 

They hear a gun shot.

 

Both of them sprint to the grocery store. There are half a dozen walkers there. Puck is firing arrows and Beiste has both her gun and axe out.

 

Blaine and Kurt don’t even hesitate – they just start taking Walkers down. Kurt pulls his swords out of his back holster and Blaine gets out his axe.

 

The four of them take care of the Walkers in short time. “Let’s get out of here,” says Kurt gravely, after the last has gone down. “The shots will only draw more.” They walk out of the store.

 

Walkers are on the street.

 

Maybe a dozen. Maybe even more.

 

They get to work.

 

Blaine deals with three of them, swinging his axe until they go down. Then he looks around as he shakes the blood off the blade. Four have ganged up on Kurt and he’s walking backwards. He cuts off one Walker’s arm, then gets a shot at the head.

 

Then he stumbles over the rise in the sidewalk and Kurt falls backwards.

 

“Kurt!”

 

Blaine runs over. He gets two of the Walkers without even much effort, but his axe gets stuck in the second’s skull. He pulls, but it doesn’t come out. Another Walker is getting closer to Kurt, who is dazed and on the ground, his weapons on either side of him.

 

Blaine doesn’t think. He stands and abandons the axe, running toward the Walker.

 

Then he jumps on its back, wrapping his legs around it.

 

He struggles with it. Wraps his arms around its neck, careful to not go near the teeth. They both fall to the ground. Blaine keeps applying his strength to strangling the Walker and after a few moments the head sort of….pops off, though still connected to the spine.

 

By now, Kurt is back. He crawls over and takes on of his swords from the ground and stabs the Walker in the head.

 

Blaine pushes the body away from him quickly. They sit there, breathing heavily.

 

“How – how could you be so – how could you do something so stupid?” asks Kurt.

 

“Because – because I love you.”

 

Kurt’s eyes widen.

 

It’s the first time he – or either of them - have ever said that.

 

“I –“

 

“NO!”

 

They hear Pucks’ voice ring out. They stand and hurry toward it. Puck is just putting an arrow through the head of a Walker who has bitten into Beiste’s ankle.

 

She’s in obvious pain. “Get her up. Get her to the truck,” says Kurt, jumping into action. They get her over there, supporting her as she limps along. All the Walkers are dead now, at least. They get her on the very edge of the truck bed, her bitten leg hanging off the end.

 

Kurt leans into the truck and grabs a clean axe.

 

“I’m – I’m going to have to cut it off. To stop the infection.”

 

“Holy shit,” says Puck.

 

“I’ll hold her down.” Blaine goes to the leg. The bite is gross and Blaine almost wants to puke. “Okay.”

 

“I’m sorry,” says Kurt to Beiste – she just nods and grips some of the clothes and blankets they had found.

 

Kurt swings his arm up and then down a few times. The first cut, Beiste screams. By the third she has passed out.

 

Blaine drops his grip on the leg. It falls to the street.

 

“Pull her in, we have to go,” says Kurt, throwing the axe back into the truck.

 

“I’ll get into our new medical supplies and make sure it doesn’t get infected and wrap it up so she doesn’t lose too much blood,” says Blaine. He jumps into the back and pulls Beiste the rest of the way in. Kurt closes up the truck.

 

“Hold it up,” says Kurt, running to the driver’s side.

 

“Let’s motor back so Dr. L can take a look at it,” says Puck. He looks very pale. “Do – do you think that will work? That she won’t turn now?”

 

“I don’t know,” says Blaine. “I’ll keep an eye on her on the way. Go.”

 

Blaine gets to work as the truck starts to move. He finds something that will clean out the wound and then wraps it up with gauze. Then he elevates the leg on the side of the truck. Beiste herself is still alive, but unconscious. Blaine hopes it stays that way.

 

“Are you doing okay?”

 

Kurt has opened the middle window in the truck and looks back for a moment before looking back to the road.

 

“It’s clean and wrapped,” says Blaine. “That’s all I can really do. She’s still breathing.”

 

“If she dies,” says Kurt. “Get ready to – to end it, okay?”

 

“I know.”

 

They drive in silence for at least another ten minutes, maybe more, when Kurt speaks again.

 

“I love you, too.”

 

Blaine looks up from Beiste. Kurt has turned and looked right at him.

 

Blaine smiles.

 

“I still think what you did was so stupid,” says Kurt. “Like, jumping on top of a Walker without a weapon? Are you kidding me, Blaine?”

 

Blaine laughs and shakes his head. “Kurt, I can’t imagine living in this world without you. When I saw that Walker coming toward you – I had to stop it. Because you’re the thing in this world that makes…makes life worth living. And I’m going to protect you no matter what.”

 

“And I’m going to protect you, you know that?” asks Kurt. “Because you’re – you’re very special to me. You know that, right?”

 

“I know, of course I do,” says Blaine.

 

When they get to the prison, Dr. Lopez takes over for Blaine. He says they worked quickly, which is good, and he takes a look at the amputation.

 

“All we can do now is wait and see if it worked.”

 

It does, thankfully, and Beiste wakes up several hours later. They find some crutches in the prison infirmary and she’s up and walking by the end of the week.

 

000

 

A few weeks later, Kurt brings up something Blaine hadn’t actually ever considered.

 

“If you want to, I want you to move into my room,” he says a little nervously.

 

Blaine looks at him for a long moment.

 

They’ve started to do sexual things for a while now. Slow at first, but increasingly more since they said they loved each other. God, the surprise on Blaine’s face when Kurt revealed he got condoms and lube on the drugstore run was priceless, probably. And they have made use of them, but mostly it’s whenever they know there isn’t anyone in a cellblock at either one of their rooms.

 

Yes, Blaine’s favorite thing is to cuddle with Kurt afterwards on the bed that is almost too small, but thankfully wide enough to fit them both, but he’d never actually thought of staying there.

 

Now that Kurt says it, though, it’s perfect.

 

“Yes,” says Blaine.

 

Kurt gives him a huge smile.

 

They pack up Blaine’s things and start moving them down to C block, which is where Kurt’s room is. Cooper notices and teases them endlessly, but doesn’t tell Blaine to not do it.

 

Then Burt comes around Blaine’s room as they are finishing packing up.

 

“Kurt, can I talk to you for a moment?” he asks.

 

Kurt straightens up and closes off – Blaine can see it – and says, “You can talk to me here.”

 

Burt sighs and, after looking from Blaine back to Kurt says, “Do you really think that this is appropriate? You’ve only been together for a little while.”

 

“You said you liked that I was happy again,” says Kurt.

 

“Yeah, I did, but I didn’t imagine you’d be moving in together so soon.”

 

Kurt throws down one of Blaine’s shirts into his bag. “Dad, the world ended. Who cares about what is or is not appropriate anymore? I could be dead tomorrow and I’m going to spend as much time with my boyfriend as I can.”

 

“Kurt…”

 

“Dad, I love Blaine,” says Kurt. “He loves me. We’re ready for this. We’ve basically been living together for a while now. I’m an adult and I can do this if I want.”

 

Burt lets out a sigh again. “Yeah. Yeah I guess you guys are.” He looks to Blaine. Then he nods. “Okay, well, I guess this cell will still be here if you change your mind.”

 

“We won’t,” says Kurt, zipping up Blaine’s bag.

 

Sleeping with Kurt, cuddling together during the cold winter nights to keep warm and waking up to him is all Blaine could have asked for. The work things out in the coming weeks – sometimes they spend too much time together – but when that happens they just start hanging out with their own groups of friends during the day so they don’t kill each other. It works out.

 

When spring comes and they can make longer runs, Blaine volunteers to go out with Puck, Sue and Santana to a department store nearby to get new clothes for the prison.

 

The run goes smoothly. They have to take out a lot of Walkers, but the department store is good.

 

It’s when Blaine is walking by the jewelry department that the idea that has been forming in his mind, small at first, flares up into a full-fledged plan.

 

The rings are beautiful. He finds two that look absolutely perfect – not too much, but fit both his and Kurt’s personalities perfectly.

 

That’s where Santana finds him.

 

“Oh holy shit, you’re actually doing this?”

 

Blaine looks up from the rings, a little embarrassed. He’s broken the glass already and pulled them out.

 

“Yeah,” says Blaine. “Um, do you think this would fit Kurt?” He holds out a ring. His already fits him.

 

She takes it and puts it on one of hers. “Hmm, yeah, I guess,” she says. She throws it back to him. “God, who would have thought Hummel would be getting married before us.”

 

“Well, I mean, it won’t be like we’ll have a real wedding,” says Blaine. “But it will just be – a thing between us.”

 

“Guess that’s a good thing about the end of the world,” says Santana. “Gay marriage is legal everywhere.” Blaine laughs. Santana looks down at the female style rings and looks suddenly sad.

 

“Are you…okay?” he asks.

 

She reaches in and grabs a ring that has colorful stones beside the diamond. “Brittany would have liked this,” she says sadly. She lets out a long breath. “But I’m glad she’s not here. Brittany wouldn’t have done well in this world. She didn’t understand that the Walkers were bad, so she just – she died earlier on.”

 

“But you still miss her,” says Blaine. He’s heard a bit about a Brittany – one of the people that New Directions had lost – and somewhat knew that Santana was a lesbian. Maybe he should have put it together.

 

“Yeah,” she says. Santana goes to put the ring back. Blaine stops her.

 

“No, keep it,” he says. “Maybe it can be your reminder.”

 

Santana smiles at him. “You know, you’re an okay guy,” she says. Then she turns around and goes back to filling bags with clothes.

 

Blaine waits two days before he finally has to give Kurt the ring. In that two days, he asks Burt’s permission and blessing.

 

“Well, I think you’re too young,” says Burt, scratching his head. “But we’re all too young now to be doing the things we’re doing. If you can survive in this world at your age – you can marry at your age too.”

 

Blaine takes Kurt up to the roof, where they had their first kiss, and they watch the stars. Then Blaine pulls out the rings and holds them out on his palm. It’s definitely not as showy as he’d always imagined his proposal would go, but it’s what he can do now.

 

“I want to marry you, Kurt,” he says, when Kurt sees the rings and his eyes widen. “I want to be married to you. I know there won’t be a ceremony here or anything, and it’s not actually legal documents or anything, but I want these to show people that we consider ourselves that in love. So if you want to…”

 

“Of course I want to,” says Kurt, breathless. “Oh wow…”

 

“I sort of – well. They’re from the department store we went on a run at,” he says. “So I didn’t actually pay for them…”

 

“That’s okay,” says Kurt. “Really. They are amazing. Which one is mine?”

 

Blaine picks it up and Kurt holds out his hand. Blaine slips the ring onto his finger and it is a perfect fit.

 

“Now yours,” says Kurt. He puts Blaine’s ring on.

 

“And now you may kiss the groom,” whispers Blaine. Kurt laughs and then they kiss.

 

Blaine leans his head against Kurt’s shoulder.

 

“I’m glad I found you,” says Blaine quietly.

 

“I thought I found you,” Kurt teases.

 

“Well either way,” says Blaine.

 

“I am too, though,” says Kurt after a moment.

 

“Do you think – do you think if all this hadn’t had happened, we would have still met each other?” asks Kurt. It’s been several minutes of quiet and Kurt’s voice sort of wakes him up.

 

“Yes, I do,” says Blaine immediately. He takes his head off Kurt’s shoulder and grabs his hand, looking him in the eye. “It’s – it’s always felt like I’m remembering you, not getting to know you. Like maybe we’ve always met before in other lives and in this one, things were just – more complicated. But I think we’ve always been meant to meet each other and fall in love no matter what.”

 

Kurt looks at him with an expression that makes Blaine’s heart melt. “And how else could we have met?”

 

“Maybe, without zombies,” says Blaine with a laugh. “Like, maybe something simple like we ran into each other at school. Or maybe at a show choir competition.”

 

“Maybe in New York, after we both moved there,” says Kurt.

 

“I can tell you something I believe in more than anything,” says Blaine. “We always would have ended up just like this.” He holds up their hands, rings glinting in the dim light.

 

Kurt nods. “I think you’re right.”

 

The lean up against each other again. They focus on the sound of the crickets and not the Walker moans in the distance. It’s easy to pretend that everything is perfect because, at least for now, everything is.

 

**End**

 

 

**Some random notes/headcanons I couldn’t find a way to put into the story:**

 

It’s my belief that somehow, Mike Chang makes it back to Tina. He’s been trying to come down from Chicago for over a year now and finally makes it back to Ohio. He wanders for a few months – around Lima and everywhere he can think to go. Finally a group run into him and his friends who came down with him on a supply run and bring them all back to the prison. He reunites with Tina.

 

Santana, Kurt and Blaine run into Dani, Elliot and Adam when on a run as well. The group with Dani is super badass and Santana is immediately in love. They take their group in and even though Blaine finds himself jealous for a week or so because of the attention Adam and Elliot give Kurt, Kurt assures him it means nothing. Besides, it turns out that Elliot and Adam are already a “thing”.

 

They rescue a girl who is in her late twenties who has just lost the people in her group. Cooper immediately takes a liking to her and it turns out that she can handle everything that makes Cooper Cooper and they fall in love.

 

They have some problems with a group nearby lead by Jesse St. James of all people. In the end, they solve the conflict by just agreeing to never interact or trade with each other and they know that if one of either group hurts someone of the other – war will break out. They never pass over that line.


End file.
